尼日利亚争论其外债偿还问题

 

Nigeria Debates Payment on Foreign Debt

尼日利亚争论其外债偿还问题

 

Nigeria's Senate has approved legislation saying that Nigeria will pay its foreign debt obligations this year, but the House of Representatives says it wants the country to stop servicing its $35 billion foreign debt.

 

Nigeria's House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution criticizing foreign creditors² for failing to give Africa's most heavily indebted country debt relief and demanding that the government stop paying its foreign debt.

 

The Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, told members of parliament that he shared their frustration³ at the continued debt repayments⁴, but needed more time for discussions on debt cancellation⁵ to work. Mr. Obasanjo said he did not have the authority to order a halt in foreign debt repayments.

 

Africa economist⁶, Andrea Bohndstedt, says Nigeria loses around 60 percent of its budget in corruption⁷ and mismanagement. By contrast only an estimated 20 percent is devoted⁸ to debt servicing.

 

Andrea Bohndstedt: You could argue if you tidy up your domestic spending and prevent money being lost through corruption then you would actually will be very well able to service that debt. And you often have this argument, that you can't hold a country that's got such huge development needs responsible for debt that was incurred⁹ under a previous dictatorial¹⁰ regime where money was outright¹¹ stolen. But I think on the other hand what the Nigerian government also needs to consider that it is a borrower.

 

The spokeswoman for the Nigerian president, Remi Oyo, said that Mr. Obasanjo had worked hard to show the international community that his government is fighting corruption, and that money saved from servicing the debt would be spent on poverty reduction.

 

Spokesperson Stephen Rand of the international debt cancellation campaign, Jubilee¹² Debt, says that Nigeria is in a very difficult situation because it is not part of any formal talks to write off its debt.

 

Stephen Rand: Nigeria has the largest debt of any country in Africa, it has more poor people than any other country in Africa and clearly money should not be leaving the country to pay off ancient debts when it could be used to save lives.

 

International donors¹³ remain wary¹⁴ that Nigeria, one of the world's biggest oil exporters, is carrying out adequate reforms. World oil prices remain at an all-time high, leading many creditor¹ institutions to argue that oil rich Nigeria has the money to continue servicing its debt.

 

Gabi Menezes, for VOA news, Abidjan.

 

注释：

obligation [7Cbli5^eiFEn] n. 债务

frustration [frQs5treiFEn] n. 挫败

mismanagement 管理不善

corruption [kE5rQpFEn] n. 腐败

dictatorial [7diktE5tC:riEl] adj. 独裁的

cancellation [kAnsE5leiFEn] n. 取消

1 creditor   

n.债仅人，债主，贷方

参考例句：

• The boss assigned his car to his creditor.那工头把自己的小汽车让与了债权人。
• I had to run away from my creditor whom I made a usurious loan.我借了高利贷不得不四处躲债。

2 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

4 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

5 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

9 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

10 dictatorial   

adj. 独裁的，专断的

参考例句：

• Her father is very dictatorial.她父亲很专横。
• For years the nation had been under the heel of a dictatorial regime.多年来这个国家一直在独裁政权的铁蹄下。

11 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

12 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。

13 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。